Halo: The Shield World
by NiTrO BUrNeR
Summary: When the Master Chief and Cortana crash onto a Forerunner Shield World, they are met with the greatest enemy they have ever faced. This is my first Halo Story so please read and review! New chapters coming soon!
1. Halo The Shield World

**This is my first Halo fanfic and I would like any criticism and please review this story**

Halo: The Shield World

Late 2553:

Cortana had been going over and over the words that the man in the Cryo-tube had said before he had entered Cryo-sleep.

"Wake me, when you need me."

Cortana had become rampant from the overload of information that she had received while being uploaded into Alpha Halo's Control Room. She had gone through the Melancholia stage without anyone noticing, but as she entered the Anger Stage it became noticeable by the people around her.

During the Anger Stage she randomly turned green without knowing, and often acted irrationally. Cortana had just started to lose her memory in the last months and she had long forgotten about the Master Chief. But she still remembered the words he had said. She needed the man in the Cryo-tube and she needed him now. Cortana activated the Cryo-Tube and waited for the man to wake up.

The Master Chief awoke from Cryo-sleep. He had been sleeping in a Cryo-tube for nearly 10 months. As he came around, he heard a woman's voice mumbling. He jerked violently and hit his head on the side of the Cryo-tube when he realised that the woman's voice was Cortana's, the shipboard AI that he had been paired with only 15 months ago. He stepped out of the Cryo-tube and walked over to where a holographic projection of Cortana was standing. She glanced at him, trying to figure out who he was.

"Why hello! I don't believe we have met." queried Cortana.

"Oh no, no, this, this can't be happening!" said Master Chief.

The Master Chief had just realised what was happening. Cortana was falling into Rampancy. He fell to his knees and thought about how all this had started…

Flashback:

In mid-2552 the Master Chief was paired with the powerful UNSC AI Cortana in preparation for Operation: _RED FLAG_. Cortana's mission was to aid the Master Chief in the infiltration of a Covenant vessel and the capture of one of their Prophets. After fleeing from Reach and crash landing on Alpha Halo (Installation 04) the Master Chief and Cortana became close friends in the coming months on the ring. Their discovery then paved the way for the final victory of Humanity, which took place almost 268 light-years away from Earth.

As the UNSC _Forward Unto Dawn _flew through a slip-space portal, suddenly, a technical error caused the portal to unexpectedly close. Shearing the ship into two pieces. The front half safely landed on Earth while the lower half, containing the Master Chief and Cortana fell slowly into space. Not long after that, the lower half of the ship began to explode and Cortana was forced to put Master Chief into a Cryo-tube, while she sat and tried to contact the Earth.

Back to the Present:

As the Master Chief sat on his knees, he suddenly heard something. A buzz. The sort of buzz that happens when an electrical fault has occurred.

"Cortana, quickly. Transfer yourself into this disk." said Master Chief.

"Correction, I am not this Cortana you speak of.." replied Cortana. John-117 sadly shook his head at her misunderstanding. She transferred herself to the disk. And as the Master Chief ejected the disk from the port he put it into his armour.

"Scanning…The interior ventrals of your internal cortez contain much stored information." sighed Cortana as she entered John-117's armour. Suddenly, John-117's head erupted in pain. He fell to his knees and let out a desperate last scream before he fainted.

_John-117 awoke to find that he was in a stadium_

_He didn't know where he was_

_He stood up only to find that he was tied to the ground_

_He quickly spin around and saw a Prophet_

_The Prophet of Truth_

_The same Prophet that he and the Arbiter had killed months ago_

_The Arbiter…_

_He started to panic as the Prophet slowly hovered towards him_

_Truth slowly pulled something from his throne_

_A Plasma Pistol_

_As Truth charged the pistol to full power_

_John-117 let out a blood-curdling scream_

"Chief, Chief!" yelled Cortana. "Please wake up, please."

John-117 continued yelling until Cortana used her energy signature to give him an electrical current capable of killing ordinary men.

"Ouch!" John-117 complained as he awoke from his dream.

"Chief, oh, thank God you're alright"

"Cortana, you, you remember who I am."

"Of course I remember. I just had to revalidate my system files from the last time I was loaded into your armour. I may only have my full memory for a short amount of time so I might forget who you are every now and again. By the way, sorry if it hurt a bit."

"Yeah, a bit."

As the Master Chief looked out of the window of the ship, he saw an unbelievable sight. In front of him stood an enormous planet. But this wasn't any normal planet. This planet looked like a giant circuit board.

"Oh no. Not another one of them!" exclaimed Cortana. It was a Shield World. A planet built to protect select species from the Halo Array. As what was left of the _Forward Unto Dawn _fell towards the immense ball of steel, Cortana and John-117 braced for impact.

Blackout.

As the Master Chief stood in the rubble of the crashed ship, he saw a strange light glowing in a door way on the floor. John-117 slowly walked over towards the glowing light and stoped suddenly when Cortana said "Wait… look at the number dinted into the door frame. 0459. The same as the Shield World the _Spirit of Fire _ disappeared near."

"Didn't they destroy their ship while fighting the Covenant?" asked John-117.

"Yes but, _**'vroom'**_ quickly. Get inside the door!" yelled Cortana as an ancient looking vehicle roared past them. John-117 quickly opened the door and jumped into the Shield World.

Cortana gasped as she saw what was inside the planet. The hard steel outer shell was protecting an incredible diversity of environments inside. As she looked towards the centre she saw an artificial sun keeping the eco-systems warm. The Master Chief walked up to the nearest man made thing he could find. A house. More of a shack really. It was made out of wood and it looked like no-one had lived in it for years. He knocked on the door but no one answered. So he opened the door and walked inside himself. When he got into the main room of the house, he saw a control panel. He ejected Cortana from his armour and put her inside of the panel. Her holographic representation flickered to life up in front of him.

"Wow… so much information in so little time." exclaimed Cortana.

"Cortana, is there anything in there about humans living here?"

"Scanning… There has only been one record of humans living on this constellation."

"And when was that?"

"It was only for two weeks. In 2231."

"Dam! They would be dead by now. There isn't any help in here. We should get moving" said Master Chief.

"Wait… there are humans still here, on this construct. But they haven't moved for years according to this data."

"They must be in Cryo-sleep!" exclaimed John-117. "Cortana, where are they?"

"Scanning…Strange…It says that they are here, in this room, underneath us."

John-117 picked up a large hollow log and broke it in half. He started to dig down through the ground, he finally struck a large steel container about two metres below the surface. As he pulled the casket to the surface, he started to try to open it up with the butt of his Assault Rifle. When he finally opened the box, he saw three Cryo-tubes fall out onto the floor. One by one, John-117 activated the tubes and they each opened in quick succession. He looked down and saw that the three Spartans were wearing Mark IV Powered Armour. Which meant that these Spartans had to be part of the Spartan: _Red Team_ aboard the _Spirit of Fire_ more than 20 years ago.

Meanwhile:

Rtas 'Vadum and Thel 'Vadam were searching the air space around the Shield World, looking for Master Chief and Cortana. When suddenly they saw and ancient looking vehicle roaring towards them. They both exited the Phantom that they had been driving and pulled out their Energy Swords. The old vehicle, which looked like an early proto-type Wraith, slowed down and finally stopped less than ten metres away from Rtas and Thel. And out jumped the impossible. Ripa 'Moramee. An elite supposedly killed more than 20 years ago was standing in front of them. Ripa roared. A blood-curdling yell. And then he changed at Rtas.

"Thel, get back on the Phantom. Find Chief, we'll need him."

"What! No! There's only one of him and two of us. We can beat him."

"No we can't." groaned Rtas under the strain of holding Ripa's Sword away from him. "Look" and Rtas pointed at the oncoming fleet. Almost fifty Ghosts, at least thirty Banshees and another three Wraiths. "I'll keep them busy so you have time to get away." Rtas replied.

Thel quickly turned and headed back to the ship. But as he was just about to get in he saw an orange flare fly up into the sky. He had seen that flare before. It was the Master Chief's.

"GO!" yelled Rtas. And Thel entered the Phantom and flew towards the flare.

Rtas jumped back. Narrowly being missed by Ripa's Energy Sword. He ducked another swing and ran towards the legendary swordsman's chest. He shoulder barged him and Ripa fell to the ground. Rtas stood victorious over the body of Ripa lying on the ground. He plunged his sword into his chest. But nothing happened. Ripa pulled the Energy Sword from his chest and flung it to the ground.

"Ha. Did you think that that would destroy me?" remarked Ripa.

"But, but, but how?"

"Long ago my body was infected by the Flood parasite. But I learnt that I could control the parasite inside of me and that it could make me stronger. So I purposefully infected other Grunts and Elites, until I had a whole army of followers." explained Ripa. Meanwhile, Rtas had been inching towards his Energy Sword which was now just in his reach. He jumped onto it and picked his sword up as he swung around and slashed at Ripa's chest. Ripa fell back to the ground injured but to Rtas' astonishment, his chest was healing and the slash was narrowing with every second. Rtas spoke into his radio. "Thel, tell, AHHH!" exclaimed Rtas as Ripa slashed across his back. "Tell Cortana that they aren't just Covenant. They, they have been infected by the Flood." Rtas flung around with all his remaining strength when he heard Ripa approaching behind him. His sword connected with Ripa's leg and blood squirted everywhere as it fell to the ground. But the momentum of Ripa's running sent him sprawling into Rtas and his Energy Sword slipped into Rtas' chest and Rtas fell to the ground.

"Rtas! Rtas! Do you read me? Rtas?" croaked his intercom.

He saw it in the distance. A large purple vehicle approaching them at high speed. Only minutes earlier had he shot the flare into the air. Looking for any signs of life on the outside of the planet. Master Chief stood still as a ramp ejected from the underbelly on the side of the Phantom. He started running towards it when he found out that Thel was driving it and ran to meet him.

"Thel where's Rtas? I thought he was with you." asked Chief

"He, he didn't make it." Said Thel solemnly. Suddenly, the rudder on the Phantom exploded and as Thel and Chief looked into the distance, they saw a fleet of ancient machines advancing towards them.

"Quickly, Thel, come down into the inside of the planet." said John-117 as he pushed Thel into the doorway that he had entered the planet less than half an hour ago.

The Master Chief introduced Thel to the three Spartans that had defrosted from the Cryo-tubes. Jerome-092 sat on a bamboo chair holding a Shotgun limply by his side. While Douglas-042 and Alice-130 stood behind him. Each holding two SMG's.

Thel, Chief, Cortana and the three Spartans then made up a plan of attack for the new enemy. They would all go to the only known place that the Covenant had set up a permanent base. They would go to the Apex Site. A place near a fleet of Forerunner ships that are still dormant and would still be until they were activated by the Reclaimer. And since Master Chief was thought to be that Reclaimer, he was wanted by the Covenant to activate the ships and give them limitless power. But first, they had to go to the ONI base close by to find the Index to activate the ships. Because of the danger present for the operation, Cortana would be left behind. Much to her displeasure.

It had taken barely an hour to make it to the ONI base by foot, seeing as the Phantom had been destroyed. They rounded the first corner going into a corridor and were met by almost twenty Grunts. Because the Grunts were infected by the Flood, they were almost impossible to kill. Jerome-092 ducked into a door way and shot eight Grunts dead with his Shotgun. Alice-130 and Douglas-042 each threw two grenades into the group and green blood splattered against the walls of the hallway. The last Grunt left standing charged up his plasma pistol and shot at Douglas-042 and dropped his shields down. The small Grunt then picked up a Needler and fired it at Douglas-042. The three bullets flew towards him and embedded themselves into his chest. Jerome-092 finished reloading his Shotgun and shot the Grunt in the head. The Needles exploded and Douglas-042's now limp and lifeless body was flung across the room. An explosion happened in front of them and out of the smoke a Covenant Phantom emerged.

Chief and Thel ducked behind cover as a volley of plasma blasts rained down on them. Alice and Jerome walked through the small door way to the side of the corridor. The two Spartans were going to go around the Phantom and find the Index while Chief and Thel destroyed the Phantom. The Master Chief peeked out and fired at the ships cannons and turrets. From the left side turret a Grunt fell to the ground with a large thud. The Phantom halted a few feet off the ground and both the side hatches opened. A mix of Elites and Grunts leapt off the ship and opened fire on their opponents. Thel threw a grenade over and took out two Elites and most of the Grunts. An Elite leapt over some steel and Chief took out a knife and stabbed the Elite with it.

The alien slumped over the steel as four grunts ran at him. He pointed his gun and opened fire. They all fell to the ground in quick succession. Thel lifted his Energy Sword and took out another Grunt and two more Elites. The last Elite ran at Master Chief, he rolled forward under another swipe from the Elite then he dropped his gun and took out his knife.

He rose it up as the Elite bought down his sword. Then he rolled back and fired his pistol. The bullets dug into the Elite's chest and he stumbled backward. Master Chief picked up his gun, knocked the Elite to the floor then fired the rest of the round of bullets into its head. He and Thel stood, victorious after defeating the enemies.

Meanwhile, Alice-130 and Douglas-042 continued to walk through the hallway. A small beast rounded the corner, followed by another and another until the hall was full of them. Douglas and Alice opened fire and those pierced by the bullets stopped moving. But the wave still continued. Douglas threw a grenade and green blood flew everywhere as the Flood Infection Forms were blown to pieces.

Then Combat-Forms leaped over towards Alice. She fired her SMG and one of them fell. Another fired the Needler it held in its hand but Alice-130 dodged the projectiles. Douglas fired five bullets straight into its head and it crunched to the floor. Then, Douglas and Alice ran toward the centre of the base where the Index was held. An Elite Flood ran at him and he blew its chest to pieces with the SMG. Alice crushed Infection Forms beneath her feet. Blood spurted all over her.

Douglas fired at the Flood around him until an Infection Form crawled into his Armour. Pain erupted all over his body. He turned and spun, taking out as many Flood as he could. Another Infection Form got inside him as rotten flesh ripped out from beneath his skin. Alice grabbed a Combat Form's mouth and ripped out its voice box, then crushed it with her fist. She turned to see where Douglas had gone and she saw him start to shake.

"Douglas, what's wrong?" she asked. But then his head flung violently to the side and his spinal cord protruded from the top of his neck. Alice vomited in her helmet and her vision was blurred. She felt pain erupt all along her spine and started to shake. She grunted as her head flung itself to the side. And her Flood transformation was complete.

Thel and John-117 rounded the final corner into the hall that lead to the Index room. And standing there was a lone Pure Juggernaut-Form poised and ready to strike. Thel struck at the beast with his Energy Sword and managed to cut off its left spiked tentacle. The beast swung at Master Chief with its right tentacle and managed to hit him in the chest, slamming John-117 into the wall. Just as the Juggernaut was distracted with the Chief, Thel managed to impale the beast on the end of his sword. He went and helped John-117 up and they both walked into the massive room that held the Index.

Thel and Chief thought that the room was empty as they entered it. But two massive Flood, with rippling muscles emerged from behind the wall. Thel gasped when he realised that the two Flood were wearing Spartan armour.

"No, not Alice and Douglas too." the Chief moaned. Master Chief walked up to the Flood and slowly realised that they weren't going to hurt him. Somehow, the two Spartans still remembered him and just stood there staring. John-117 couldn't stand seeing them like this so he pulled out a grenade from his belt and placed it on the floor in front of the two Flood. The grenade exploded just as Chief made it back to Thel. They both went to the middle of the room and retrieved the Index silently.

Ripe 'Moramee walked slowly around his camp, limping slightly on his new steel leg. He limped around the corner of his tent and he saw six of his best soldiers lying dead on the ground in a slowly increasing pool of thick green blood. Ripa looked around for what had killed his men and he saw a lone Spectre flying away at speed towards the Apex Site. He pulled out his binoculars from around his neck and stared at the vehicle speeding away from him. He growled when he saw that a green Spartan holding the Index and the Elite that he had met before were driving the hovercraft. He walked behind the tent and hopped into his personal escort Wraith and started to follow the Spectre.

After killing a group of Grunts with the Spectre's gun turret near a large tent, the Chief and Thel had finally made it to the Apex Site. They entered the Control Rome which housed the fleet of dormant ships and the control panel to activate them. The Master Chief slid the Index key into the glowing port in the centre of the control panel and waited until the ships were released from their docking bays. Thel and John-117 walked towards the first and nearest ship and started to walk up the ramp that had ejected from the underbelly of the ship. Suddenly a roar came from behind them and they turned around to see the same Elite that had killed Rtas only hours before.

"Ripa" snarled Thel.

"And so we meet again you traitorous scum. Working in alliance with a human." spat Ripa. While the two Elites were talking, John-117 took the opportunity to reload the last clip he had into his Assault Rifle. He suddenly turned around and started to spray wildly at Ripa and he howled in pain as the bullets dug into his flesh. The blood seeping out of his wounds slowed down very quickly as they almost instantly healed over. As he looked down at his healed chest, a smile crept its way onto his face. But it was quickly disappearing as the Master Chief ran at him, having run out of bullets. He hit Ripa in the head with the butt of his rifle and was flung back by the sheer force of the punch delivered to his stomach which instantly winded him. Ripa 'Moramee laughed at Chief's futile attempts to catch him off guard. Then he rounded on Thel.

Thel ducked under yet another blow from Ripa. Then suddenly he charged at Ripa's chest and somehow found himself on top of Ripa. Ripa slashed fruitlessly at Thel, but his arm was pinned down by Thel's knee and he couldn't reach him. Thel swung at Ripa's neck and sliced clean through it. Green blood flowed from Ripa's neck hole and then he suddenly became still. Thel sighed. He went over and pulled the Master Chief up onto the ship. When the Master Chief finally came around, Thel went over and sat down next to him.

"You know, I'm really getting tired of dragging your sorry arse around everywhere." complained Thel.

"You better get used to it mate." replied John-117.

"WARNING, WARNING, INCOMMING MESSAGE." blared the ship's computer.

"Chie! Chief! You, you got to help me." crackled Cortana over the intercom. "It's the Gravemind. He has me. He's taking me to the old Shi…"

"TRANSMITION ENDED."

"Computer, where was the last known location of Cortana?" asked Master Chief.

"Scanning… The last known location was at the Covenant aerodrome and heading in an Easterly direction towards the Old Shipyard.

"Then that's where were going." said Thel.

Manoeuvring the ancient ship was hard and ruthless. Even the slightest bump of the steering wheel would send the ship flying in the opposite direction. As they approached the shipyard, they found that it was filled with old ships that had just been dumped here and left to rot. In the centre of all the old ships was an enormous Cruiser. They made a beeline towards the Cruiser and finally found a space big enough to park in. As they exited the ship they heard an electrical buzz, kind of like the one John-117 had heard in the _Forward Unto Dawn_'s wreckage before it crashed. He pushed this thought out of his head and continued into the belly of the Cruiser.

'No wonder the Cruiser is in the Shipyard' thought Thel. As they entered the ship they found that its interior had been completely destroyed. All that was left inside the steel shell was a single massive wall, splitting the cavern into two large rooms. The first room in which they had entered was empty. Aside from one or two bodies of Grunts sitting in a large pool of deep green blood in the far left corner. They walked right past, trying not to look at the intestines and organs left lying on the ground from the slaughter. When they reached the door in the middle of the centre wall they paused for a moment before walking through the doors and into the other room. And what they saw was horrific.

A Gravemind, giant and horrific, was sitting in the middle of the room. When it saw the two puny opponents in front of it, it started to laugh. Then Combat-Forms leaped over towards Thel and Master Chief. John-117 fired his Assault Rifle and one of them fell. Another Flood fired the Needler it held in its hand but Thel dodged the projectiles. John-117 fired three bullets straight into its head and it crunched to the floor when it landed. Thel pulled out six Plasma Grenades and four Fragmentation Grenades from his belt. Then he ran around the Gravemind, scattering the grenades as he went. When he had only one grenade left, he primed it for three minutes and threw it next to another grenade that he had put on the ground. Meanwhile, the Master Chief was having a hard time killing the Flood with only his Assault Rifle by his side. So he ducked under a swinging arm of a Flood and took its Shotgun from its other hand. He retreated back towards the Gravemind while still picking off the Combat-Forms one at a time. Then, suddenly, he swung around and pointed the Shotgun at the Gravemind.

"Now Thel!" Master Chief yelled. And Thel 'Vadam launched himself at the Gravemind, Energy Sword in hand. And at the exact moment that the tip of the sword touched the Gravemind, John-117 fired his Shotgun into the Gravemind's face. The Gravemind roared, and as he roared an small computer-chip fell from his hand and clattered to the floor beside Thel. Thel picked it up and hurried towards the door with the Master Chief.

They took off in their ship in the nick of time because as they rose slowly into the air they both saw several explosion happen in quick unison inside the Cruiser. Thel put the chip into the ship's port and Cortana's holograph flickered back to life.

"Chief, I found out that I'm in the Fourth stage of Rampancy."

"The Fourth Stage…"Chief racked his mind for where he had heard that term before. "The in the Metastability Stage. So you, your human?"

"Metaphorically speaking, yes!" she said excitedly.

"Do you know about the cloning project?" Master Chief asked Cortana.

"What cloning project?" she replied.

"Well, scientists clone another human being and they put your memory and brain into that body."

"So I can be an actual person!" she asked.

"Ahah." said Thel.

"So where to now Captains?" asked Cortana.

"Home." replied both the Master Chief and Thel 'Vadam in unison.

In the cargo hold at the back of the ship, something moved. The little creature scurried across the floor and into the light. And then the Flood Infection-Form sniffed the air, and started moving towards the ships control room.

NiTrO BUrNeR

Special Thanks To:

Anthony Hughes


	2. Halo: The Jammer

**Halo: The Jammer**

**14 days** after the Master Chief and the Arbiter return to Earth.

Peter hid behind a coffee table in an abandoned café. His breaths were heavy and uneven. After all, he had been an office block cleaner for the past 18 years and running was not his thing. He had been running from the things. The things that had infected the whole city. The things that were chasing him and the other survivors down. There were only twelve people left _unturned _in the city of New Sydney that Peter knew of. And that number was shrinking everyday as the other survivors were hunted down. They were all in hiding, spread across the city. Each one being followed by the parasite. Collectively known as The Flood.

Five days earlier, a Spartan II had come into the city and had helped the survivors.

"Spread out and to lay low until reinforcements arrived." He had said. But he had been taken by the Flood to a submarine just off the coast. The two days that the Spartan had helped seemed long ago in Peters mind. Peter looked down at the chain that hung around his neck. It had belonged to the Spartan before he was taken away. He read the inscription for what seemed like the millionth time that day.

_Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John S-117. _

"The target is in sight." The Sabre Pilot reported in to Cortana. She picked up the radio.

"Good, now get to the target building." She had been busy searching for the Master Chief for the last week. After she had been transferred into a body he had disappeared. Three hours ago Cortana had received a distress call from the Master Chief. Telling her that the Flood had escaped again and had infected the whole of New Sydney including the Elites and faithful Grunts that lived peacefully there, and that he was being held prisoner in the Central Quay Building near the bay.

"Negative, we can't get close enough to the target building. The Flood have a Radio Jammer set up on the MJOLNIR 2551 Memorial Building." The Sabre pilot reported back in.

"Switch to High Spectrum Radio Wavelength." replied Cortana.

"I've already tried that. The Jammer is Full Spectrum."

"Shit. We'll have to send in a Strike Force to destroy the Jammer." responded Cortana.

"They're going to have a hard time; the area surrounding the Jammer looks pretty busy."

"Noted Sargent. Stand by for your next instructions."

"Copy that."

Cortana looked around the room. Her eyes settled on the picture of herself with the Master Chief and Thel. She walked over to the picture and picked it up. Then she knew what she would have to do to bring Master Chief back.

"Thel, it's me. Yeah something's up. Look I need your help with something."

**2 hours later.**

"Ok, we'll be at the drop zone in thirty seconds. Lock and load Marines." announced the pilot of the Pelican.

"You ready McCallef." asked the Arbiter. The Sargent looked around at his men sitting on the other side of the Drop ship. The six other Marines were checking their weapons while they waited for the Pelican to land.

"Sure thing Thel" He replied.

"Ok we'll hear from you when you destroy the Radio Jammer. I'll drop you as close to it as I can. Remember, you won't have any radio contact until the Jammer is destroyed. If it's not down in 30 minutes we'll send in another squad." The Pelican Drop ship touched down on the beach outside the city. "Touch down, hit it Marines!"

"Come on guys!" McCallef yelled. The squad hit the ground running and they stayed low as they moved behind the cover of tall building.

"The building with the Jammer is 200 meters down the street. On my mark, run as far as you can and get behind cover on the side of the road as soon as you hear gunfire." explained Thel to the waiting group of marines.

"Wait a second, McCallef go find a hiding spot and provide sniper fire if we need it." reported Cpt Perez.

"Ok. GO!" yelled Thel. And six marines ran down the street, ducking from cover to cover. An unsuspecting infected Grunt fell silently to the ground as a Marine meleed it in the back. A scream filled the silent street as a shot from a Fuel Rod Gun landed behind him and flung the Marine through the air. The other Marines and Thel stopped running and ducked behind cover. They had only run about one hundred meters and still had at least eighty meters to get to the MJIRNOL 2551 Building. And then the Flood emerged from the building.

"Incoming!" Perez yelled to the rest of the squad. A rocket was flying through the air towards the group. Two marines ducked behind a crashed car and avoided most of the blast. Another Marine jumped out of the way and landed, sprawling on top of Perez, sending them both out of the way of the splash damage of the rocket. The rocket landed right behind a dirt bike and instantly killed two Marines that were still standing near it. The bike flew through the air, landed on the pavement and slid down the road and hit Perez on the back of his left leg. Perez fell to the floor groaning in pain and clutching his injured leg. Thel ducked down behind a car and crawled over to Perez to check on him.

"Perez! You Ok?" he yelled of the gunfire all around him. Perez groaned in reply and Thel turned around to where Perez was looking behind him. A Combat Form stood poised with its tendrils behind its head. Ready to hit Thel. The Flood's arm started its dreaded decent towards Thel's head.

McCallef looked through the sight of his Sniper Rifle from his vantage point on top of the building the Marines and Thel had hid behind at the start of the street. A Grunt was getting dangerously close to the Marines behind the car and he got the Grunts head in the sights of the scope and pulled the trigger. The other Marine was pulling at two Infection Forms that had latched on to his body. The Marine punched the first one's head and it exploded over his body. McCallef took aim at the second Infection Form.

"Stay still!" McCallef grunted as the Marine spun around, trying to hit the Flood on the head. He took a deep breath and held the rifle steady, following the movement of the Marine. Finally the Marine stopped moving and McCallef shot.

The bullet rushed through the air. It went between the arm of the Marine and his body and hit the Flood in between its eyes.

"Yes!" McCallef yelled. He looked back through the sight that was still pointed at the Marine. Suddenly all that McCallef saw was a flash of white light and the Marine flying through the air. He zoomed out with the gun and saw a dirt bike flying through the air and hit Perez in the legs. Thel walked over to him and put all his attention on the injured Perez. What he didn't see was the Flood coming up behind him. McCallef took aim at the Flood's head and pulled the trigger. _Click. Click. _McCallef pulled the trigger again and realised that he had run out of bullets.

"Shit!" he exclaimed. He looked back down the sight, hoping that someone else had noticed.

The Combat Form brought its arm down towards the Elite at its feet. It then felt a burning sensation on its back and the Flood turned to see a man standing behind him, trying to pull a knife out of the Floods back. The old man finally got it free and moved forward to stab again. The Flood turned away from the Elite on the ground and swung at the pitiful human behind him. The blow caught the man on the side of the head and was flung almost five meters through the air until his back collided with a parked car and he sank to the ground. The Flood turned back to Thel to finish him off, just in time to see the lightning fast punch connect with his head. The Flood fell to the floor, unconscious, or dead. Thel didn't care.

The battle raged around him as he tended to Perez's injuries.

"Leave me." Perez managed before gasping for one last breath. Then he died. Thel sat there for what seemed like a millennium until a small groan came from the old man lying at the foot of a car woke him. Thel stood up and ran over to the man and ducked behind the car. He looked down at the man who had saved his life and noticed the silver chain around his neck for the first time. He placed a gentle hand on the man's neck and lifted the necklace from his head, and read the inscription.

_Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John S-117. _

"Where did you get this?" Thel asked the man who just sat there and stared at him.

"Where is he? Why do you have this?" His voice was rising with every word. The man gasped. Bringing a huge breath of air into his lungs and let out a string of words so fast that Thel almost didn't understand him.

"…GASP…hewastakenbytheFloodtoa."

"To a where?" Thel yelled at the man. Thel looked into the old man's pocket and found an old name tag. PROPERTY OF PETER MALCOM. He looked down at the man who had shown so much bravery and the man who had put his life at risk to save Thel. The Arbiter stood up and started to walk away.

"Submarine." was all Peter could manage. Then he died.

Thel looked back at the cleaner he had only known for a few minutes. Then turned and yelled at the top of his lungs.

"McCallef! Run! Meet me back at the drop zone!" He dropped to his knees and aimed down his Plasma Rifle. Then he shot until its battery went dry. The bolts slammed into the Jammer eighty meters away. Thel turned back the way he had come. Running through the street, dodging overcharged Plasma Pistol shots. A surviving Marine met up with him and started running alongside Thel. They both ran to the drop zone and found McCallef waiting there.

"Shit! Are you two all that's left?" He asked.

"We'll have to stay here." said Thel. "Cortana will have to send in another squad soon.

"Damn, they haven't dropped the Jammer yet. Hang on…The high frequency radios work in the area. They must have hit it but not destroyed it! I'll have to send in another squad." sighed Cortana. "At least we can land right next to the building now. All right, G-17 lets go."

"Come one! Up the stairs!" Cpt Styron yelled at the three other Marines in squad G-17.

"Yes all right we're coming!" came a female from further down the stairs. Styron's face softened.

"Sorry, are you alright Cortana?" She trudged up the stairs past the Captain, nursing a cut hand.

"Couldn't be better."

"Sir!" A young marine raced back down the stairs and stopped in front of the Captain.

"What is it Lieutenant?"

"The Jammer is just up the stairs! But there are things up there." he said the last sentence uncertainly.

"What things?" Cortana put in.

"Hunters. But…they've been infected by the Flood. And they are ridiculously hard to kill!"

"Leave this to me." replied Captain Styron as he pushed past the young Marine and Cortana. He walked up the stairs and took a small gun out of his pocket. The gun was green and had an orange button on the side. Styron pressed this button and a stock slid silently out of the back. A pistol grip sprung out of the bottom and a scope slid out right on the end of the gun, just above the barrel. Cpt Styron pulled a clip out of his belt and slid it into the gun. Then he walked out onto the roof.

Staying low, the Captain crouched behind an overturned desk and peered over the top. The Hunters were placing the bodies of the two other Marines to the side. There were five Hunters in front of him. He searched for the orange spot that was usually a weakness for the Covenant monsters but it had been covered over by thick flesh. Deciding what to do, Styron stood from behind his hiding place and looked into the scope of the gun.

He took aim and fired. an explosive charge came out of the end of the barrel and landed in between two of the Hunters instantly killing them and sending them flying. The other three Hunters turned around. All charging their Plasma Cannons, all expecting the lone figure to reload the gun that he held. But he didn't. Styron stood there and finished off the clip, sending three more rounds into the group. The three Hunters all flew through the air and landed on the gravel three stories below. Cpt Styron ran to the Jammer and planted explosives around the base. He ran back to join Cortana and the Marine and press the button for the explosives.

"What was that gun!" The Marine eagerly asked.

"It's an XMSA. A semi-automatic rocket launcher!" The Marine was going to ask more when they heard a desperate cry coming through their radio.

"Help Us."


End file.
